Vicky Ng

Paediatric Gastroenterologist,
Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

Dr. Vicky Lee Ng received her MD from the University of Toronto, completed her Paediatrics residency and Associate Chief Resident year at The Hospital for Sick Children, followed by Paediatric GI, Hepatology and Liver Transplant fellowship training at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her long-term academic mission is to enable infants and children with end-stage liver disease to survive and thrive after liver transplantation by integrating pediatric assessment of the multiple dimensions of health into the day-to-day clinical practice of pediatric hepatology and transplant medicine.

Ng is the co-creator of the PeLTQL, the first disease-specific quality-of-life tool for pediatric liver transplant recipients, and the senior PI on a publication deriving novel pediatric growth curves for evaluating psoas muscle area and assessing sarcopenia in children. Ng is the President of the Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (SPLIT), a global network advancing the science and outcomes of children requiring and receiving liver transplantation, and the Co-Chair of the High School Outreach Initiative (HSOI) for the University of Toronto’s Transplantation Institute.

Research

Ng’s clinical and scholarly work focuses on the care of children with progressive liver failure and the need for pediatric liver transplantation. She has developed a research arc in the arena of assessment of frailty and sarcopenia in children. Ng is deeply committed to collaborative efforts towards generating new knowledge in optimizing ideal outcomes and functional status for patients who require liver transplantation as an infant, child or teen. Important partnerships towards these shared goals include participation in the Starzl Network of Excellence in Pediatric Transplantation (SNEPT) and the Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (SPLIT). She is the SickKids site Principal Investigator on several NIH funded multi-center initiatives with a spotlight on pediatric liver transplant recipients, including iMALT (immunosuppression medication adherence in pediatric liver transplantation) and iWITH (immunosuppression withdrawal in stable pediatric liver transplant recipients).

Education and experience

• 1993: MD, Doctor of Medicine, University of Toronto, Faculty of Medicine, Toronto, ON, Canada
• 1993–1994: Comprehensive Paediatric Internship, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
• 1994–1996: Paediatric Residency, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
• 1996–1997: Associate Chief Resident, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
• 1997–1998: Clinical Fellow, Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
• 1998–2000: Research Fellow, Paediatric Hepatology and Liver Transplant Program, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
• 2000–2007: Assistant Professor of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
• 2000–present: Staff Physician, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Paediatrics, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2001–2007: Project Director, Research Institute, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2005–present: Medical Director, Liver Transplantation, Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Center, The Hospital for Sick Children, Department of Paediatrics, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2007–2015: Associate Professor of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Canada
• 2008–2009: Rotman-Paediatrics Leadership Program, University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management Executive Program
• 2013–2015: Head (Interim), Transplant and Regenerative Medicine Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2013–2015: Co-Director (Interim), Toronto Transplant Institute (TTI), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• 2015–present: Professor of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Achievements

• 2018–2020: President, Society of Pediatric Liver Transplantation (SPLIT)
• 2018: Winner, University of Toronto Dean’s Alumni Award – 25th Anniversary Award (see video)
• 2012–2018: Associate Editor, North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) Societal Clinical Practice Guidelines and Position Statements
• 2011–2014: Councilor, NASPGHAN Executive Council

1. Lurz E, Patel H, Lebovic G, Quammie C, Woolfson J, Perez M, Ricciuto A, Wales PW, Kamath BM, Chavhan GB, Juni P, Ng VL. Pediatric Reference Values for the Total Psoas Muscle Area.  Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Obesity. 2020 April;11(2):405-414.  PMID: 31920002
2. Feng S, Bucuvalas JC, Mazariegos GV, Magee JC, Sanchez-Fueyo A, Spain KM, Lesniak A, Kanaparthi S, Perito E, Venkat VL, Burrell BE, Alonso EM, Bridges ND, Doo E, Gupta NA, Himes RW, Ikle D, Jackson AM, Lobritto SJ, Jose Lozano J, Martinez M, Ng VL, Rand EB, Sherker AH, Sundaram SS, Turmelle YP, Wood-Trageser M, Demetris AJ. Efficacy and Safety of Immunosuppression Withdrawal in Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients:  Moving Towards Personalized Management.  Hepatology 2020 Aug 12. doi: 10.1002/hep.31520. Online ahead of print.  PMID: 32786149
3. Kehar M, Parekh RS, Stunguris J, De Angelis M, Van Roestel K, Ghanekar A, Cattral M, Fecteau A, Ling SC, Kamath BM, Jones N, Avitzur Y, Grant DR, Ng VL. Superior Outcomes and Reduced Wait Times in Pediatric Recipients of Live Donor Liver Transplantation.  Transplantation Direct. 2019 Feb 27;5(3):e430. PMID: 30882035
4. Lurz E, Quammie C, Alonso EM, Englesbe M, Lin H, Hsu E, Furuya KN, Gupta NA, Venkat V, Dan-iel JF, Leonis M, Miloh T, Telega GW, Yap J, Mendendez J, Book L, Himes RW, Sundaram SS, Parekh R, Sonnenday C, Bucuvalas J, Ng VL, Kamath BM. Frailty in Children with Liver Disease. J Pediatr. 2018 Mar;194:109-115.e4. PMID: 29478492
5. Ng VL, Nicholas D, Dhawan A, Yazigi N, Ee L, Stormon M, Gilmour S, Schrieber R, Taylor R, Andreou P, Otley A, and the PeLTQL Study Group. Development and Validation of the PeLTQL:  A Disease-Specific Quality of Life Measure for Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients.  Journal of Pediatrics 2014 Sept;165(3):547-555. PMID: 24976329

View a full list of Vicky Ng's publications